We are Sister Wrightsell

Hello, All--

Service at the hospital with the Hmong Elders:
they found the perfect parking spot!

Welcome back to Monday, the least liked day of the week unless you're a missionary, where Mondays are your favorite day of the week. Never thought that would happen! I hope this week's update finds most of you in good health and comfortable temperatures. We actually got up to 115 this week, and that's a new record for me!

Had some fun in the slightly
sketchy stairwell

Also, the combined name "Wrightsell" is I think the greatest thing I ever came up with! (If you're not as entertained as I am, then you probably live a much more interesting life than I do...)

Service with Linda!

WEATHER SURPRISES. Another fun thing is hearing about the polar opposites happening in the country right now. Hurricane Harvey is something that we have been able to get updates on, despite the "missionary bubble" (we don't watch the news much). We're definitely sending prayers over there.

Okay it's nature...I couldn't just not

Here in Northern California we've got plenty of wildfires that are making people move around, and that firefighters are working hard on to be contained. There is a ton of smoke moving through Chico, and if I go home with smoker's cough, you'll know why. (Thankfully I have a "How to Quit Smoking in 7 Days" program available to me...something tells me I'll be continuing smoking for awhile. Just not at a good place in my life to drop it quite yet.)

A freshly combed/picked orchard!
Never seen them this neat before!

it wasn't me

WHO LIVES HERE? This week has been another amazingly long week, but always full of good things. I was more than a little entertained by the irony of Saturday's tracting experience. We actually knocked on the door of some Jehovah's Witnesses. They politely declined wanting to hear a message, it was just funny to me to have those tables turned where instead of them knocking on our doors, we get to knock on theirs! (Also it was over 100 again at that point, and it was maybe 11 a.m...perfect.)

balancing ourselves...before
we fell...

We got to go to a farmer's market that morning! In search of one of our "less actives" (haven't been to church in awhile). We don't usually spend our time at markets, don't worry! But one thing you get a lot on the mission is people not answering their phones, or just not being there when you set up an appointment. So it was a fun goose chase around this chaotic gathering (the farmer's market), which ended up being unsuccessful. But really, some of the unsuccessful stories are the best ones :) :)

balancing attempts...again

I have continued to grow and learn, from working with Sister Wright. She's well known around the mission for being an amazing missionary, and I'm glad to be able to tell you that she really is!

Different stages of
balancing ourselves...
we never were all looking
at the same camera

This week, through OYM (Opening Your Mouth), we actually got two new investigators, both of which seem promising! It's been so cool to see a different style of missionary work (through Sister Wright), and it's helped me grow so much already.

DOING THE RIGHT THING. With one of the investigators, we were actually trying to find Pam. She's been sick these past few weeks, so it had been awhile since we saw her. We always drop by on Saturdays at 3, so when she didn't answer for the 2nd week in a row, I was determined to catch her. We did some missionary stuff (like filling up the car with gas), and then went back around 4 to find her daughter walking inside the apartment instead of Pam. Turns out Pam was at a friend's place in the complex, so we were able to follow her daughter and get to know her a bit more.

We found a cobweb
mistletoe: Christmas
in September?

Pam's friend has had a death in the family recently, and was open to learning more about where her family member was, and was very prepared to hear about the gospel! So we have a new friend, Sherry, that Pam will help us teach next week. Sometimes when you work hard, Heavenly Father sends a few obvious tender mercies your way, just to let you know you're doing the right thing :)

Look at the nice, puffy clouds!

CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE. Another amazing thing is meeting regularly with another investigator, Robbie. He used to be a member but his records were lost which, understandably, frustrated him a lot. He left the church for a bit, but over the years has basically become a member again, and even works with the scouts every week. But he's been very difficult to get hold of, and get to know, so Sister Hood and I were kind of stuck when we actually had a lesson with him.

He's such a chill guy, we didn't know if he had the drive or motivation to quit smoking so he could get baptized. Plus, we've been playing phone-tag and trying to talk to him for months, so we just didn't know what else to do.

I was hot and hungry, okay?

Then the transfer came, and I saw the miracle of a new perspective. Sister Wright exemplifies the phrase "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It's been so cool to see how she gets to know the people we talk to and meet with. And Robbie, once we just got to know him a little better, opened up a ton! We're doing a lot better with helping him, and he's working hard to quit the bad habits. All it takes is a little time to show you genuinely care about people! (Common sense I know, but it took me awhile okay!)

More sketchy stairwells

we stopped to sort of take nice pictures
in the orchard...

NO GRUDGES. My final little bit for this week is about my spiritual "lightbulb" that went on, about forgiveness. We're all so used to knowing we should forgive others when they do something that maybe you were not happy with. But a huge part of forgiveness is being in a mental place where you can accept it when someone forgives you. Sometimes we beat ourselves up about things we've done, far longer than it took for us to be forgiven of whatever it was that we did.

Try to see it from Christ's perspective: He doesn't want us to be unhappy, or beat ourselves up for something we've already fixed and changed. He just wants us to be our happiest, best selves. So when you're forgiven, remember that you don't have to worry about it anymore. Heavenly Father has already forgotten it. As long as you've had that change of heart, you can let the guilt go.

...but neither one of us is really good at that...

Super bright outside on the way
back from District Meeting
in Paradise

Good luck with your weeks! Keep doing what you're doing, as long as you're doing it well :)
As always, I love hearing from you guys--
"Remember Who You Are!" and
"Don't Let It Get You Down!"

Sister Whitesell
teresa.whitesell@myldsmail.net
244 B West 20th St.
Chico, CA 95928